Here's an iMix of Keynesianisms, fallacies (do I repeat myself?), tax tyranny, wine tyranny, and other slightly notable news bits.

-- Tyrants from the state of Taxachusetts are infuriated that people are going to New Hampshire to buy goods to avoid the state sales tax. Taxachusetts politicians think that they should be able to levy sales taxes on customers who buy goods in NH based on the sales tax that would have been levied at a similar place in Taxachusetts. It's not about one set of tires - Taxachusetts doesn't want consumers to have the freedom to buy goods from a place where the taxes are lower or don't exist at all. This tire case, they hope, will set a precedent for unlimited use of the state's tax tyranny.

-- They're still trying to pass a smoking ban in Michigan. Some public health bureaucrat in academia says this:

Our elected officials are constitutionally responsible for the health and welfare of Michigan's citizens. Given the substantial evidence that secondhand smoke causes illness and death, we believe the lawmakers who stall this bill willfully neglect their constitutional duty to protect the citizenry. It is time to stop playing politics with our lives.

...Business suffers when smokers can't smoke. There are, however, more than 100 peer-reviewed studies showing that smoke-free restaurants and bars do not lose revenue; some even prosper and enjoy revenue gains when smoke-free.

It's so easy to make these things up, isn't it?-- The broken window fallacy is popular again. As Murray Rothbard said (my translation), it's understandable that you may not understand economics, but all the same, if that's the case do not talk about it as if you do know what you are talking about.

-- Someone is angry about all the posting 'round the Web about the Keynesians and their plans to have Americans dig holes and fill them up to create economic growth. So this confused writer , in a post titled "Stimulus and Holes: What Keynes Really Said," tells us that Keynes never really said that, but then he quotes Keynes where he did say it. Keynes refers to digging holes as "fortuitous and often wasteful mitigations," but then he states that such a thing "will increase, not only employment, but the real national dividend of useful goods and services." He also recommends this sort of action "if there are political and practical difficulties in the way of this," because, he says, it "would be better than nothing." So yes, he said it.

-- 139 companies were de-listed from the NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges during 2008 because they couldn't meeting listing requirements. Westwood One, Novastar Financial, Spectrum Brand, Borders Group, Dollar Thrifty Automotive, and Pier 1 Imports are just a few of the troubled companies. Rite Aid, Sirius XM, Unisys, and BearingPoint are companies that are opting for reverse stock splits or stock buybacks to reduce their shares and increase their stock prices above the $1/share target. Nasdaq has suspended some of its listing requirements while NSYE will probably end up doing the same.

-- Can you say malinvestment? This Business Week writer is perplexed by how malinvestment occurs because he is not familiar with Austrian Business Cycle Theory. He understands there's a malinvestment problem, but he can't unwind it and see the light.

-- In October, I blogged about a federal judge in Detroit who declared a Michigan law unconstitutional which prohibited out-of-state retailers from shipping wine straight to Michigan consumers. In January, a new law signed into force by Governor Jennifer Granholm reversed the ruling and "prohibits retailers from shipping wine directly to consumers, and specifically bans the use of third-party delivery services like UPS and FedEx." So one politician with a pen can make good a legislative decree that violates all individuals' freedom of choice and voluntary transaction so that Michigan wineries and retailers can make more dough by restricting out-of-state wineries and retailers from competing by selling their products to Michigan consumers.